Pat Kelsey speaks on importance of having Chucky Hepburn's experience

Louisville has added a dozen transfers in the portal in their roster rebuild ahead of their first season under Pat Kelsey. Few are as important Chucky Hepburn, though, considering what he could bring to the Cardinals.

Kelsey broke down Hepburn’s impact for them during an interview with Jon Rothstein on ‘College Hoops Today.’ He said that it starts with his ball security as a lead guard who can take care of the basketball for them.

“Yeah, I mean, look, you want – I say all the time and this is another quote,” said Kelsey. “Great point guards? You give the ball to them at seven at night and they give it back to you safe and sound at nine, right. You give them the ball at three o’clock on a Saturday and they give it back to you safe and sound at five.

“The best point guards are extensions of the coach on the floor and, obviously, he is that.”

In 103 games over three seasons at Wisconsin, Hepburn averaged 9.8 points and three assists. He led their team in assists in each of his three seasons there in Madison. For his career, that’s good for an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5, including a career-best ratio of 3.25 as a junior after posting a career-high of 3.9 assists this past season with the Badgers.

For reference, Louisville has averaged more turnovers than assists in each of the past four seasons. The Cardinals tied for 275th nationally last season at 12.8 per game. They also posted a ratio that was 322nd in the country with 54 more turnovers than assists.

That’s not all that Hepburn will be bringing as one of their 12 portal pickups. They all bring a standard with him that Kelsey was looking for in his additions this offseason.

“We’re excited about our entire roster. A very high percentage – and I don’t want to mess this up – but it’s probably close to 85-90% of the guys that we’ve signed in the portal all played in the NCAA Tournament this year. Guys like that that are winners, winning players that come from winning programs,” said Kelsey. “Obviously, we value toughness, competitiveness, basketball IQ, guys that make people around them better, have great adaptability. We think our roster is made up of guys like that.

“It’ll be a team that the city of Louisville can be really proud of.”

Hepburn is the fourth-highest rated transfer for Louisville. He’s behind only Terrence Edwards Jr. (James Madison), Kasean Pryor (USF), and Koren Johnson (Washington). He ranks as the No. 144 overall player and No. 32 PG per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players.

The Cardinals need someone to run the show and help Kelsey to put all these pieces together out on the floor. That opportunity to lead them in that way will fall on Hepburn as their veteran guard from the portal.